Marijuana joint leads to arrest of fugitive in Norwich

Norwich — A Rhode Island man with a pending drug-related charge was arrested as a fugitive from justice Wednesday after police said he was spotted “openly smoking a marijuana cigarette on the sidewalk of Franklin Street at Boswell Avenue.”

Police said Dennis D. Hedges, 35, of Providence, a convicted felon, was interviewed by Officers Kyle Besse and Chris Chastang, members of a new community policing unit patrolling downtown.

Police said Hedges would not initially produce identification or his real name. After they learned his name, police said they found he was wanted on an outstanding extraditable warrant from Rhode Island for the charge of first-degree failure to appear in court, a felony.

Hedges apparently missed a court date to answer to an original charge of manufacturing or delivery of schedule I/II narcotics.

Held in lieu of a $100,000 bond, Hedges is due to appear today in Norwich Superior Court. Hedges was additionally issued an infraction for possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana.